The Irish charity Turn2Me has called on Coimisiún na Meán and the European Commission to block Grok AI entirely. The artificial intelligence tool is integrated into the platform X and since last month has introduced a feature which allows users to create sexually explicit images of people.
The rising production of deep fakes generated on the site has led to worldwide safety concerns. Turn2Me is urging the Irish media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán and the European Commission to urgently assess Ireland’s online safety frameworks and to block or restrict services on social media platforms that facilitate this harmful content.
The European Commission has launched an investigation against GrokAI. If they are found to be in breach of the rules under the EU Digital Services Act, they could be fined up to 6% of their annual turnover rate.
Irish European parliament representative, Regina Doherty has said that the commission will assess if these explicitly modified images have been shown to EU users.
Turn2Me is an online community that was founded in 2009. It aims to combat mental health issues and provide out of hours help to those in need. The charity is horrified by the disregard of people’s wellbeing and how much these sexually explicit AI generated images can have on people’s mental health.
“The psychological impact on victims of having their likenesses altered and disseminated as explicit material, particularly when children are involved, cannot be overstated.” says CEO of Turn2Me Fiona O’Malley.
Many countries have already acted against the tool and have implemented regulations against it. Grok AI has been banned in southeast Asian countries Malaysia and Indonesia, while regulatory warnings have been seen around Europe.
Different organisations have removed themselves from the platform amidst the controversy. The Immigrant Council released a statement outlining their decision to remove themselves from X.
“As an organisation working to support migrants in Ireland, the Immigrant Council is appalled by the use of artificial intelligence by X’s own AI Grok to create and share non-consensual intimate imagery of women and girls”, they said.
The council continued by saying that the continued growth of misogyny and racism on the platform, as well as the “latest demonstration of hate and abuse” underlines their reason to leave.
Hey guys!! My name is Elena and I will be one of the news and current affairs sub-editors this year. I’m in my second year of journalism and politics (very fitting) and I’m originally from Dublin. I'm so excited to be on the editorial team this year after being a contributor last year. SIN is a great way to build experience and I can’t wait to read everyone’s articles.